Building Bridges
by Barrissia
Summary: Lithuania just wanted to be free. Poland just wanted his friend back. When Lithuania finally escapes from Russia's clutches with the help of the UN, Poland takes it into his own hands to try and heal his former best friends scars, even if it means reopening his own in the process.
1. Prologue

It was for the greater good, he supposed.

The man turned away from his spot at the window, his hands shaking slightly and breathing ragged. It had taken weeks of planning, of secret phone calls and very little sleep. But now, he was sure.

_It would happen tomorrow._

The moon shone, casting shadows down the hallway and illuminating his path back to his room shared with his two sleeping brothers, across from the three nations that voluntarily stayed in the house of the Soviet Union.

A board creaked as he slowly, carefully made his way back, nervously checking to make sure that the lights of the study upstairs were still off, and pushed his way inside.

Gentle snores rand through the darkness, undoubtedly Latvia, accompanied by the occasional movement from the other corner – Estonia.

Lithuania smiled slightly. He would miss them. They had become his sanctuary after he had been forced to go with Russia, cleaning his wounds and preventing the older nation from breaking down.

Yes, he would miss them.

No, there was nothing he could do about it. It was a sacrifice he would have to make.

Lithuania padded across to his own bed, curling his legs up to his chest when he sat down and listening for any sounds of movement. It was still silent, and he sighed in relief.

Without realising it, he started to plan everything out yet again in his mind, visualising the look on Russia's face and holding it there. It was a comforting image, after everything the older nation had done.

But it wouldn't matter anymore. He would be gone tomorrow.

_He would be free._

Away from Russia. Away from abuse, away from being enslaved and towards freedom, his own country in which he hadn't set foot in for nearly half a century. He had been allowed out, of course, but that didn't stop the pain of feeling what was going on in his homeland, without knowing what the cause was personally. Being told and shown was not enough. He needed to _know_.

He smiled grimly to himself. It would be nice to find himself again, to have a ranking in the world other than Russia's lapdog and see everyone.

Including a small blond pole that had betrayed him and left him in the grasp of Russia.

_Poland..._

Would his oldest friend and former ally take him back? Would he still be Liet, the person Poland trusted the most?

Lithuania didn't know.

He had been able to come over the grief that his best friend had invaded and taken over his Vilnius, his capital city, but it had taken _time_. He though Poland would _understand_ that, because of his own experience of being torn apart in world war two, but the Pole was still convinced that Lithuania was mad. Typical.

Their last meeting had been brief, bitter, overlooked by Russia as his Soviet Union retook Lithuania after his brief time with America. It had been impossible to decipher the look in the blond's eyes.

He would find out. When he was free.

So it would anger Russia. Hell yes, it would anger Russia. Not Belarus (the psychopath would be glad that Russia's favourite toy had gone and given her more room to declare her love for her older brother) and Ukraine so much, but Russia would be _furious_.

Hence the reason he hadn't run off years ago. The older nation would have got him back far too easily, and it was a risk Lithuania was not willing to take.

So he enlisted the help of the United Nations.

America, of course, was more than welcome to help. England had followed his ex-colonies lead, and France had followed him to try to get back in the Brit's good books. Not that it had worked, but Lithuania was touched by the notion all the same. So tomorrow, they would 'distract' Russia, and Lithuania would be free to go with America as watchdog in case Russia caught on.

Lithuania had seen holes in the plan (and from England's expression, he had to) but America had been so sure that they didn't want to break his moment of Heroics.

The next thing he had noticed were the two other Baltic's. His leaving would mean they would be under constant threat, ensuring they remained in the Union, and they would be vulnerable.

He wondered briefly who would become Russia's next toy, but shook the thought out immediately.

It would be for the greater good, and might give the other nations a reason to break the Soviet down altogether.

It would be necessary.

Lithuania lay down, back protesting slightly when it hit the bed, but he ignored it. Another thing he wouldn't miss. Constant pain at the twisted nations hand.

He shuddered. What he would do to be able to get a small part of _revenge_...

_No_.

That was Russia speaking. Not Lithuania. He wouldn't do anything like that, ever. It was just nice to picture, after all.

Shifting his weight over onto one side, Lithuania sighed and closed his eyes.

One more night.

Then he could go home.

_Finally_.

* * *

_**Hello!~**_

_**This is a pilot chapter, to see if anyone would be interested in reading it, and also a prologue of sorts :)**_

_**My first story, flames and criticism are accepted and probably needed, so say whatever, even if it is just 'Cool'.**_


	2. Chapter 1

**_Disclaimer: Quite obviously, I do not own Hetalia, or Poland, Lithuania and the Nordics would get more love. This is the only disclaimer, because I'm far too lazy to write any more and once again, it's fairly obvious._**

* * *

America stood on the front step to the House of the Soviet Union. He had been stood there for a few minutes, nervously raising his hand to knock before dropping it down again. He looked round again to the bush sat next to the driveway, glaring as it shook with muffled laughter and swearing.

"America! Hurry the bloody hell up, we're already ten minutes late!"

"Why don't you do it yourself then Iggy!" he shot back, and turned back to the door.

There was another bout of shaking and complaining, before a loud slap, and France fell out. He straightened himself up like it was a perfectly normal thing to do, and swaggered over to the American, who was _definitely not_ shaking.

France reached out and placed a hand on America's shoulder. The American flinched slightly, and gave him a glare from the corner of his eye.

"Would you like me to do this, _Amérique?_ Because you are too _scared?_" the French man purred, moving his hand teasingly down the other nations arm and ignoring the cry of "Get your filthy hands off of him, froggy bastard!" from behind the bush.

America frowned. He _wasn't_ scared, just slightly (very) worried (petrified) of the fact that the last time he had 'visited' the Russian was during the Cold War, and had almost died several times. It's enough to make anyone frightened.

But being the hero he was, America shook off the negative feelings and the French nations hand, before raising his own and knocking three times on the door.

* * *

They were _late_.

Lithuania paced around his room, wringing his hands desperately and peering out of the curtains every few steps. His brothers were downstairs making breakfast, and he presumed that Russia was in his office. Ukraine and Belarus had gone to the park.

Had they forgotten about him? The plan was to send someone, probably England, to the front door and tell Russia there was an emergency meeting over at Germany's place. Then 'everyone else' (Lithuania did not like to think how many people were actually coming) would sneak him away round the back, and into the closest friendly country.

Which just so happened to be Poland.

Not that Lithuania was _worried_ about it, he just hoped someone had bothered to tell the Pole what was going on, so he wouldn't panic and attract Russia's attention.

He shuddered slightly when he thought of what the Russian might do if he was caught.

The clock hanging on the wall chimed –it was half past eleven. They were now 40 minutes late.

Had something happened? Had the Russian caught them? Had they really forgotten about him?

Lithuania sank back onto his bed, wrapped his arms around himself and bit his lip.

It was too good to be true, when the others had decided enough was enough, and agreed to bust him out. Of course they hadn't meant it; they just said it to shut Lithuania up, they didn't care what happened inside the house, as long as everyone was alive and able to run their country without too much fuss, of _course_-

The door knocked.

Lithuania jumped up and ran to the window, tearing back the curtains for what felt like the hundredth time that day, and sighed in relief when he saw France and America having a squabble on the doorstep. Oh, and England, hidden away behind that rather ugly bush.

"M-Mr. Russia, it's F-France and America here to s-see you," Latvia called up the stairs.

Lithuania heard a small chuckle from the end of the hallway, and the sound of heavy footsteps making their way downstairs.

It was time to make his move.

"What do they want, little Latvia?" the Russian asked sweetly. Lithuania could almost hear Latvia swallow from his place at the door.

"About a m-meeting, sir, c-confidential, over at Mister G-germanys house,"

Lithuania looked back out the window. Russia was at the door now; the other two nations had taken several steps backwards.

From behind the bush, England looked up to find the Lithuanian watching him. He peered through the leaves, making sure the Russian was still occupied, then raised his hand, connecting his forefinger and thumb to make an 'O'.

Lithuania nodded. There was someone round the back, waiting for him.

In three steps he was out of the room. Six steps and a turn left, the top of the stairs. A quick glance round through the window that overlooked the back. Yes, there were people out there, but from the distance he couldn't tell who.

Thirteen quick steps and he was down the stairs, silently passing the front door where the Russian was pulling on his trench coat and almost running through to the kitchen. Latvia was at the front door; presumably Estonia was in the front room with the Hoover.

Nobody was in the way between himself and freedom. He couldn't - _wouldn't_ be caught now, he had waited too long...

Lithuania pulled his set of keys out of his pocket as he crossed the kitchen. He would keep them, maybe America would like them. Belarus already had her own set, or he would give them to her, but the American could always use them to get revenge on Russia... or he could just keep them for himself.

The backdoor swung open before he reached it, and six faces peered in at him.

Prussia grinned and stepped into the kitchen, clapping a hand on Lithuania's shoulder, and giving a low whistle as he looked around.

"Hasn't changed much here, even without the awesome me around, kesesese ~! What kept you, Lithy? We've been here for ages!"

Lithuania glanced at the other four- no, five, America's little brother had been dragged in with the Prussian, who glared slightly at either Prussia or Lithuania himself.

"B-but, the others only just knocked..."

"I _told_ you that the hamburger-bastard was going to muck it up! Stupid Spain, why the hell did you drag me along anyway?"

"Because we needed your help, Lovi~! And it is an adventure, no?"

"Will the pair of you shut up? We have a mission to get Lithuania out of here, not have a gossip about this idiots' old memories!"

"Jesus Norge, calm down! No, don't do tha- _Ow_! _Norway_!"

"Quiet, stupid anko."

America's brother - Canada, _that_ was his name - slapped a hand to his forehead and muttered something along to Prussia. Prussia just laughed and wrapped an arm around the smaller blonds' head.

Lithuania cleared his throat loudly, and looked out of the window. Russia had his scarf on, and England had come out from the bush and appeared to be trying to stop America leaping on the other nation.

He bit his lip, and turned to the others, who appeared to have stopped their fighting and were now watching him expectantly, in a rather awkward silence.

The tall blond (who appeared to be clutching a rather large battle axe) gave a small cough and tried to put a hand on the smaller nation next to him's back. He earned a rather violent elbow in the ribs, and the Spaniard to his other side chuckled.

"Erm, shall we go then? Unless there are others that need us to swoop in and save them?" he asked. Lithuania shook his head, and the Prussian clapped his hands.

"Let's go then!"

Still wrapped in silence, the three slipped out the door. Canada closed it, then glanced through the glass to see what was going on round the front of the house.

"It's alright, they've gone," he murmured. The other four either didn't hear him or ignored him, so Prussia repeated the information with a glare.

Romano glared back just as viciously, and soon the two of them were engaged in a full on glare war.

Canada wasn't the only one to hide his face in his hands - Lithuania and the smaller, blank faced blond (Lithuania had a feeling it was one of the Nordics, he couldn't tell) joined in as well. Spain stood smiling happily, and the tall blond ran a finger over his axe, shifting closer to the short blond.

"W-which way are we going?" Lithuania asked. Prussia flinched away from Romano, and put his arm back around Canada.

"We wait for a few minutes, 'till Mattie here gets a text from America, then we run to Poland!"

"He's joking, we actually have a car," the taller blond smirked.

Lithuania just nodded, and glanced around the garden. In all the time he had been in Russia's house, he had never come out round here. It had always been the front door they had used to go to meetings, and Russia had never seen reasons for any of his 'friends' to go outside at any other time.

"I suppose you're wondering why so many of us have come, huh?" Canada asked shyly. Lithuania turned back to them and nodded.

"England asked me, because – w-well, I'm invisible to everyone, eh, and the only nation out of the G8 that Russia wouldn't notice was missing," the Canadian looked quite upset about it, and Prussia petted his hair slightly.

"America will text me, since he insisted on me and not one of this lot and tell us when to go, too,"

"Then I came too, since I'm the only nation awesome enough to know how to get round the back, kesese~! And then I told Antonio, so he wouldn't be the only one out of me and France and him who didn't know, and he's pretty handy with that axe!"

The Spaniard kept smiling happily as he drew out a slightly more delicate (but still very, very threatening) axe with finer designs on it than the one the blond was holding.

"And then I told Romano, since he would be left all on his own at home, and Boss wouldn't want that, ahahaha~!"

The Italian glared, and kicked Spain in the shin. The Spaniard gave him a slightly hurt look, and wrapped his arms around Romano's neck. Romano growled and muttered something along the lines of "stupid fucking tomato-bastard,".

Prussia turned to the pair of blonds, "Norway?"

The shorter sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Britain mentioned it when I last saw him and Romania and asked if I would help, since my magic is better than his in this sort of weather. So I came along. And this idiot here," he glared at the blond, "decided to come too,"

"Oi, I asked Denmark to come because he's awesome! And we're having a beer party tonight!" Prussia put in.

Norway frowned. "Come home drunk and I will kill you."

Denmark just grinned and ruffled Norway's hair. Something roared in the distance, and he removed his hand rather quickly.

Lithuania smiled shakily at them all. He appreciated all their effort, even if they had been dragged along. It was good to find people that would actually _care_.

* * *

England swore. It had taken far too long to persuade Russia that he didn't need to bring any of his 'friends' along with him, since it was a private meeting and they simply _weren't allowed_.

So of course, the Russian had gotten moody, and insisted upon driving himself. Currently, he was slightly behind them in the queue of traffic, smiling in his creepy way.

He shuddered. Secretly he didn't blame America for being scared of Russia. Secretly he was scared of him too. Not that he would be admitting that anytime soon, though.

The French nation behind England poked him in the neck. "What was that for, _mon ami_?"

England turned around, thankful that the traffic was at a standstill and the American besides him wouldn't have a fit for not keeping his eyes on the road, and glared.

"Because, you bloody wankers took far too long messing about! What if _he_ got _suspicious_? It'd be all your fault, and- _for god's sake America, leave that alone_!"

America paused in his leafing through the Brits wallet, and looked up at his seething former mentor.

"Iggy-"

"Shut _up_, you blithering idiot! Just call the Russian to make sure he's okay, and _don't_ touch my stuff!" England blushed slightly as he snatched the wallet back off America, and the car lurched forward as the traffic finally started to move.

France chuckled, and lifted his own phone to take a photo of the two. Their tension was quite obvious, if one was to watch the pair of them for long enough... he'd have to let it develop a bit more, and then inform Hungary. She'd get them all sorted out eventually.

In the front of the car, America sighed slightly and did as he was told.

* * *

"Da?"

"Oh, hey! Russia! How're you doing back there, haha?" America asked shakily. There was a pause on the other end of the phone, and a sigh.

"I am going back to pick up Lithuania. It is lonely without him, da?"

America bit back a gasp, and fought to keep his voice steady. "B-but, were nearly there!" he looked down at the clock, "Three hours isn't long, right? I'm sure you'll manage!"

"No, but I'm sure he will want to be with me. I will not be long. There is a nice restaurant a few miles away, you could wait for us, da?"

_Shit._

"S-Sure! No problem!"

And America hung up.

France poked England in the neck again and ignored the Brit's cursing.

"What was that about, _Amérique_?"

England cast his eyes over at America. A crease had begun to form between the younger nations eyes, and he was breathing heavily.

He turned to look at the two European nations.

"He's going back to get Lithuania,"

* * *

**A/N: Hello!**

**Wow, this got over 90 views and four reviews! Pretty chuffed because this is my first story, yadda yadda yadda :D Good to know theres some interest for this. **

**Yes, Lithuania is being saved by Prussia, Canada, Spain, Romano, Denmark and Norway. I love Denmark and Norway too much to leave them out of this, and the Nordics will probably appear in this story occasionally. Spamano is a pairing, USUK will be a pairing and PruCan is there too, because I can't just have one!**

**Please review, since the feedback is welcomed and criticism is probably needed, even if its just a 'Cool Story, bro'.**


	3. Chapter 2

Canada sighed and ran a hand through his hair for the fourth time as Romano complained, yet again, about how _cold_ it was.

For the past few minutes, the seven of them had been making their way down the road that led from Russia's mansion to the small village sat on the edge of the river Volga, five miles away, and Romano had _not shut up._

"...but _why_ couldn't we bring the car up here! All this _fucking walking_, we could have got someone to _pick us up_ so we wouldn't have to be in this _fucking cold_, dammit! Stupid Russian, why couldn't he live somewhere _warm_ like the rest of us!"

The Spaniard next to him just shrugged and shifted the axe on his shoulder. Canada didn't _quite_ know why both he and Denmark had brought them along, but decided that it was probably better not to question it. He would prefer to keep his head, and the warnings from America about "Big, scary _bears_, Mattie!" were worrying him slightly (not that he'd ever admit it, of course).

They offered a sense of security, when not swinging around on the shoulders of a skipping Spaniard or hovering along behind Denmark (presumably he had nagged Norway enough to use his magic to make the thing float).

Shaking his head slightly, Canada looked back at said Nordics walking a few meters behind. Denmark waved enthusiastically and Norway just pinched his brow in exasperation.

He was about to ask what was wrong when a finger poked him in the cheek, then the hand it belonged to grabbed his nose and pulled his head back around.

"What do you _want_?" Canada hissed, turning back to face the Prussian and slapping the hand away in annoyance.

Prussia pouted slightly and his eyes gleamed cheekily for a moment before sobering up to look worried.

"D'ya think he's okay?" he muttered, tilting his head towards the Lithuanian walking quietly behind Spain and Romano.

"What do you mean?"

Prussia rolled his eyes and beckoned the Canadian closer. "He looks kinda shifty. Keeps looking round as though he's expecting something to happen,"

"Gil, we're walking from Russia's house to a village, to help him escape, in broad daylight. Two people are carrying axes, you have that sword and I think Romano has a few pistols somewhere. That's going to look a bit suspicious, don't you think? He's probably worried that someone will notice and Russia will hear about it. Besides, I seem to remember you being exactly the same when we first got you out from there," the blond sighed.

The albino flinched and a shadow seemed to cross his face.

"Fine. But I'm keeping an eye on him, anyway."

* * *

""Amérique?"

America lifted his head out of his hands to look at the two nations looking at him and groaned.

"What the bloody hell do you mean, he's gone to get Lithuania?"

England pulled the car over to the side of the road and turned to face the American properly.

Said American dropped his head down and groaned again. France shuffled from his place behind the Brit and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Just talk to us, _mon ami_, we can't help if you don't say what is wrong,"

America moaned into his hands and England frowned, reaching over to yank America's hair up and pull him upright, earning a few yelps and a glare.

"Speak. Now." He growled, ignoring America's attempts to escape his grasp, and loosening his hold a bit.

France rolled his eyes and removed England's hand, replacing it with his own to ruffle the younger nation's hair. _He_ earned a slap to the head and an exclamation of "Get your filthy hands off of my ex-colony, frog!".

With a sigh, America closed his eyes and rested his head back against the seat.

"Our dear Russia decided that he felt a bit lonely... and-," he turned to look out of the back window, "-is turning around to go and fetch Lithuania so he has company."

France's eyes widened and England swore.

"_What?" _

"Why the _hell_ didn't you stop him!"

"I _tried _to, for fuck's sake! And now he's gone and it's _all my fault_, oh my god what if he finds them and- _Mattie doesn't have a weapon!_ Russia's gonna get him, I know it _holy_ _crap_...!"

England swore again and slammed his head down onto the steering wheel, jumping when the horn made a load _'Beep!' _and glared at the Frenchman for snorting at his dramatic reaction.

Gently patting the shaking American on the shoulder, France leant round to pick up the phone. England raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything when the French nation shook his head and started dialling.

"_Bonjour? Matthieu, il est Francis..."_

* * *

Lithuania chewed his lip as looked over Spain's shoulder to check the road again.

Despite all his worries and concerns, there had been no problems (he tried to stop his mind from thinking 'yet') with the plan so far. It could almost seem miraculous, especially since America himself had come up with the idea, and his ideas generally had a tendency to backfire (he shook that thought out of his head too).

He took a breath and looked back up at the house he had been confined in for so long, surprised to see it already a few miles away. Had they really been walking for that long? It hadn't felt like it, but, he supposed, he had been too busy convincing himself that it was _finally happening._

Prussia waved, drawing Lithuania's attention from the house to the albino. Lithuania felt the corners of his mouth twitch upwards, making the Prussian laugh and jog to catch up with the brunet.

"How're you doin'? Must be odd, getting out of that hellhole again,"

"I-I'm... alright, I guess. Just trying to get over the shock of you all coming up, I think," Lithuania replied, laughing nervously and tensing up as Prussia clapped him on the shoulder.

"We all wanted to help! It's like a big, awesome adventure, kesesese~!" Prussia said happily.

Lithuania nodded and gently started to shrug off the ex-nations hand.

Prussia complied, arching an eyebrow in suspicion, but not commenting. Lithuania thanked him inside his head before looking down the road again.

"Why do you keep doing that, anyway?" Prussia asked, leaning forwards and looking over Spain's shoulder.

"Oh, um... Belarus... and Ukraine, they...um, they went out, just before-," he broke off with a whimper as something hit them both hard in the back, something that was panting and gasping with a phone clutched in his hand. Spain and Romano turned to see what was going on, and Denmark dragged Norway forwards to catch up, axe flying along in tow.

"Oh, hey Canada! Didn't want to be left out, kesesese~! Don't blame ya, everyone wants to be in my awesome presence!" Prussia exclaimed, wrapping an arm around the Canadians neck and ruffling his hair.

Lithuania stepped away from the two of them and quickly glanced up and down the road again.

"G-Gilbert..." Canada stuttered. "C-can you talk to France for a minute, please?"

The albino stared at the blond for a moment, then shrugged, taking the phone and saying, "_Hallo_?"

Spain exchanged an uncharacteristically worried look with Romano, stepping towards Prussia and leaning in to hear what the Frenchman was saying. There was a few seconds of silence, broken only by Canada's ragged breathing and the crackling from the phone.

_"Scheiße!" _

Lithuania looked at the Prussian, his heart almost stopping as all colour drained from the latter's already pale face.

* * *

**Hello All~ **

**Earghh, this was terrible to write, my brain kept getting distracted and teachers overloaded me with coursework, such fun. And now its snowing here in England! Good grief, what's going on... I'm British, so also excuse the randomly placed 'U''s in words. **

**The translations should be relatively obvious at the moment, if they get worse they'll be down here after the chapter.**

**Anyway, thanks for reviews, favorites and follows, it's so encouraging to know that people like what I write, seriously :') I just love Serious!Prussia, he's so cute :'3**

**Also, does anyone else feel the need to just grab Iceland's cheek and just _squeeze_ it? He would hate it so much.**

**I own nothing but the idea. **

**Review?**


	4. Chapter 3

.

It took three minutes for Prussia to explain what was going on and give certain Nations 'Action Stations!' (even though his mind was in panicky override, Lithuania couldn't help but wonder what exactly went through the ex-nations mind), and another three minutes after that to find those action stations.

Romano, being Italian and, following the logic of his brother, a reasonably fast runner, had been given the job of running ahead to the village to fetching the car. He argued that he needed some form of protection, and Spain happily donated himself, despite Prussia's argument that the two would get 'distracted' and/or lost.

Canada was still stood on the pavement, to carry on walking down to the village and use the excuse of 'I was in England's car and fell out, then they forgot about me and drove off', accompanied by Prussia because the Prussian had simply decided he could get away with wanting to annoy Germany at the pretend meeting.

There was a then a quick squabble between Norway and Prussia over where the two Nordics and Lithuania would go, until something behind the three of them roared and caused Prussia to run and hide behind Canada.

The 'something' grabbed Lithuania and Denmark around their waists' (Denmark happily laughing, Lithuania mentally screaming) and gently set them down on a bough of a fir tree, almost 30 feet into the air, hidden away in a mass of leaves and twigs. Norway came up after a short talk with Prussia and was immediately pulled into the Danes lap. Denmark got a sharp slap around the head, but the Norwegian didn't attempt to move away.

"We will stay here until the car arrives. Prussia and Canada will lead Russia away if he turns up, but don't expect him to be fooled easily. No noise, no moving and no _touching_. Are you listening, Denmark?" he muttered wearily, glaring around at the pair of them.

Denmark acknowledged him with a salute and a slight pat on the head. Lithuania settled for a quiet "Yes," before shrinking back further into the tree. He wasn't afraid of the height – years of spying and sharpshooting on missions during his time as a Commonwealth had given him plenty of experiences with heights far greater than this – rather, it was the fall he was worried about; falling from the tree and falling back into the hands of Russia.

Shaking his head in a vague attempt to concentrate, Lithuania looked up towards the two other nations. Norway had managed to climb up higher, and had taken an almost sailor type pose, one arm around a branch, the other up to his eyes and peering through the branches. Denmark was switching his gaze from whatever was interesting to Norways' legs.

From below, there was a cry of _"Incoming!" _ and a rock flew through the leaves, bounced against the trunk and fell back down.

Prussia cackled; Lithuania could just about hear Canada reprimanding him before Norway let out a shout, and neatly hopped back down the tree to sit besides Denmark.

The Dane opened his mouth to question what was going on, but Norway shushed him, and motioned that they lean forwards.

"Russia drives a grey truck, yes?"

Lithuania nodded silently, his eyes wide. "Y-yes, usually with roof bars,"

Norway exchanged a look with Denmark before lying down on the branch and shimmying along it, almost to the outer layer of leaves. Lithuania was about to question what was going on, but Denmark slid along closer to the brunet, still clutching his axe.

"Russia's come up quicker than we thought – hopefully 'Tonio saw him and has realised that they should stay down there," he nodded in the direction of the village, "Or else things are going to get a lot, lot worse."

Above them, Norway shivered and felt a dark presence skim across his back, moving around to his floating hair curl and disappear.

Biting down the urge to vomit, Lithuania settled for leaning his head back against the truck and closing his eyes. A small part of him hoped that if he blacked it out long enough, things would sort themselves out and when he came around again, he would be in a warm, soft bed surrounded by food. A small Pole would appear out of nowhere; they would hug, there would be tears upon their reunion and things would return to normal, like they had been over 300 years ago.

He forced himself to open his eyes and _concentrate_. There was no point in reminiscing; the 'golden days' of his commonwealth were over, there was nothing he could do to retrieve them and _no point at all_ in creating a false hope for himself and Poland. Too much time had passed, and again he found himself wondering if Poland would re-accept their friendship.

"Lithuania?"

Lithuania turned back at Norway, who had managed to get back to them again silently. Denmark flinched when the shorter nation steadied himself using the Danes' shirt.

There was the low rumble of an engine, growing louder and sending shivers up the Lithuanians spine.

"We stay here, we stay still and we stay silent. Silent, Denmark," Norway muttered, indigo eyes fixed on Lithuania's face.

A car door slammed, and below Prussia let out a gasp.

"Hello Canada, hello Prussia, what are you two doing so far from home?"

Denmark blew through his nostrils loudly as Prussia began to babble, Canada occasionally putting in a few words.

"_Quiet, idiot Dane!"_ Norway hissed; tightening his hold on the taller mans shirt and peering through the leaves at the three nations. Lithuania clamped his jaw and lent forwards slightly, too, catching glimpses of Russia, and Prussia and Canada's backs.

.

Said two were desperately avoiding the Russians' eyes, Canada shakily nodding along to what Prussia was now saying. From the dark look on Russia's face and the slight, pulsing aura that he seemed to be emitting, he did not believe them in the slightest.

Lithuania bit his lip and tried to imagine that _no, he was not sat up in a tree with a slightly psychopathic Dane and a scarily cold Norwegian, that was definitely not Russia stood less than twenty meters away, he was just having a bad dream-_

"Brother?"

Lithuania's heart and mind seemed to jolt for a second before doubling in speed - his thoughts and heartbeat drumming through his ears as the low, feminine voice rang out.

It had come from nowhere, quite likely from a distance; there was a slight echo; he guessed it was the mountains and the significant lack of life on the hill, not to mention the pale, barren landscape, so that would mean the voice had come up from the village, and were stood roughly three hundred to four- _No! Focus! _

To use Denmark's words, things had now 'turned a lot, lot worse'.

Belarus and Ukraine must have been returning home and seen the Russians' truck.

And now they were running towards the six nations, both visible and non-visible, bags swinging from their arms and a long knife clutched in the Belarusians hand.

"Ah. You are coming home, yes? I was just visited by America; he said I have a meeting over at Mr. Germany's house. I came back to find some company, but instead found these two stood at the side of the road! It is very strange, da?" Russia called out softly, the aura still swirling around him and lead pipe tucked under his arm.

"Brother. You didn't tell me."

Lithuania could almost hear the pout in Belarus' voice, and something about the familiarity comforted him. Maybe the two females would join Russia, or persuade him that, really, the blond and the silverette peering over his shoulders were only out for a leisurely stroll.

But the likelihood of that happening was so low that Lithuania didn't even bother pondering about it.

Mutterings and a few growls (most likely Belarus) rose up to the tree. Ukraine had tears in her eyes, and sounded as though she was begging that Russia reconsider. Belarus had raised her knife at some point in the fight, and the two bickering nations quietened down as it was whipped through the air, a few centimeters short of Ukraine's chest.

Denmark snorted, earning himself a glare from Norway and causing Russia to look up.

_Crap._

"Sister, go and sit down over there for a few minutes, da? Big sister Ukraine and I have a few things to sort out quickly,"

"No."

"Please? For your brother?"

Lithuania cursed inwardly again and drew his head back slightly.

Belarus reluctantly stood up, and the three tree-bound nations held their breath as she delicately sat down, looking far too innocent from a girl who had almost stabbed her siblings, mere meters away from them. A whiff of sickly sweet perfume came over the three hidden nations, and Denmark nervously rubbed his nose.

.

The arguing resumed after a moment or two - becoming louder and louder until Ukraine grabbed the end of Russia's scarf and drew his face to hers, hissing something under her breathe murderously and making Lithuania glad he had never been close to her.

Russia paled for a moment, and the aura seemed to freeze, then dissipate. The temperature warmed a few degrees, and Lithuania closed his eyes in relief from above. Norway relaxed his grip on Denmark's shirt, and gave the brunet a reserved yet kind smile.

"Canada, Prussia? B-brother has decided he will give you a lift down to Germany's house for the meeting. Belarus and I shall accompany you; there is more than enough room,"

Prussia exhaled loudly, clapping Canada on the shoulder and stepping forward.

"Of course, the awesome I and the equally awesome Mattie will accept this offering!"

Canada nodded shyly at Ukraine in agreement. Russia didn't look overly happy, but in comparison to a few minutes ago (and the countless other tines Lithuania had seen him enraged) he was as calm and collected as usual.

Belarus stood up daintily and stepped forward. Ukraine smiled brightly at her and went over to the truck, opening the back door and motioning for Canada and Prussia to climb in before doing so herself.

Russia sighed and looked over at the small girl, still stood firmly under the tree.

"Let's go, little one" he murmured, almost sentimentally, turning his back to her and making to go and get in the truck.

Up in the tree, Denmark pinched his nose and gently poked Norway's side. The Norwegian turned impassively, eyes widening when he saw the look of pure terror on the taller blonds face.

Of course, things _couldn't_ go smoothly. They would _never_ be able to accomplish anything, because the Dane had brought this all on himself. He had realised as soon as he felt it, and cursed the Danes inability to remember not to, quite literally, jinx things around magic users.

He had mentioned things getting _worse_.

And there was _nothing_ that could have prepared anyone for the next sequence of events.

Denmark sneezed, losing his balance on the branch and crying out as he fell.

Belarus span around as he landed, a demented look in her eyes and the knife no longer in her hands.

Norway let out a strangled gasp, and Lithuania had to grab the smaller nations back to stop him from jumping after the Dane, fighting the urge to faint.

The knife had lodged itself into Denmark's shoulder, a dark puddle of blood forming on the ground and a trickle running down his forehead.

Norway growled, slapping Lithuania's hands off of him and reaching for the long battle axe caught a few feet below them. He stood up, not wobbling as he glared at the Belarusian, and launched the axe at her.

She barely had time to dodge, shrieking and flying to the truck. Norway leapt down, staggering on the landing and immediately running to the blonds' side.

Lithuania was about to follow him when a cold wave filled his body, causing him to shake and look up from the Nordic nations.

Three things registered in his mind.

One. Russia had just got out of the truck.

Two. He was holding his military standard sniper rifle.

Three. Lithuania had never seen Russia miss.

_Shit._

_._

* * *

**_GUYS I'M SORRY_**

**_This was meant to be up two weeks ago *insert excuses of why it wasn't* but next update will be next Monday, promise._**

**_Aww, Norway. I love that guy, and DenNor is one of my favourite OTPs ':D_**

**_Thank you all sosososo much for the reviews, follows and favourites, it keeps me motivated haha! If you feel an update is late, then just say and I will try to get everything in order._**

**_Again, if there are any mistakes, just say and I'll get them sorted too :)_**

**_Ciao~_**


	5. Chapter 4

The first shot made Lithuania flinch, almost losing his balance. He wildly flung an arm around the tree trunk and crouched down to see what was going on below.

Norway had leapt up from his place besides the Dane at the bang, raising the axe and snarling. His eyes narrowed as he tried to spot where the Russian had aimed his shot. The bullet had gone wide.

Lithuania allowed himself to sigh in relief, and risked leaning over to look at Denmark. The blond was still unmoving, face pulled into a grimace and eyes now slightly open, watching the Norwegian.

Another bang. Norway swung the axe in a high arc and there was a metallic _clang_ as the bullet was deflected expertly. Denmark smiled faintly.

Switching his gaze to the car, Lithuania held his breath, wildly hoping that the other two friendly nations (no offence to Ukraine, but he didn't think she would be much of an ally in this situation) would offer some form of back up. Norway couldn't hold off the Russian forever.

Evidently the windows of Russia's truck were fitted with some form of unbreakable glass; Prussia was banging franticly against the pane, wincing each time he made contact. Lithuania could barely see Canada, and Ukraine had appeared to have disappeared completely. Prussia stopped trying to break the glass, turning his attention to the single tree in the barren landscape that had turned into a battlefield.

Lithuania caught his eye and shook his head. There was no way of getting free from the car, and Russia had started walking away from the trapped nations. Belarus was nowhere to be seen, and Ukraine still hadn't reappeared. There was no chance that they would get out anytime soon.

Three gunshots rang out in a row, followed by two clangs as Norway deflected them. The tree shuddered under Lithuania's feet as the third bullet hit it. He sat down on the branch, wrapping his legs around it and scanning the surrounding branches to find a way, any way, of getting down.

To the left, on the far side of the tree was a stump, where a bough had broken, leaving a few feet of wood that looked fairly sturdy. Above him was a thinner but longer one. Lithuania gritted his teeth and calculated the distance, attempting to ignore the gunfire coming from below. Norway seemed to be holding his ground better than Lithuania would have thought.

Turning his attention back to the tree, Lithuania clenched his fists. It would be a two meter jump across the gap. If he could grasp the branch above, maybe he could find footholds in the trunk. The jump would change from being across and around to a simpler drop. But it would also change to a three meter drop.

The chances, he imagined, would be small. If he managed to get hold of the branch, there was every possibility it would snap. If it didn't, it would mean grappling his way around the tree to try to get above where he wanted to be.

And then of course, was the landing itself. If he missed, he didn't want to think about what would happen.

But Russia was getting closer and the time between the shots were getting smaller. Norway was still fighting, grunting slightly with each swing and muttering slightly under his breath. Lithuania didn't think he would last much longer.

Narrowing his eyes, Lithuania stood up and reached an arm up and forward. The little branch was maybe half a meter out of reach above and a meter to the left. He let go of the tree trunk and bent his knees, bouncing his current foothold slightly. Luckily the branch was still green; strong enough to support the three nations when that had all been sat up on it, but young enough to offer a reasonable amount of spring. Good.

Lithuania closed his eyes and held his breath. And then he jumped.

For a brief moment he was suspended in midair; the noise from below was tuned out as adrenaline took over. His heart pounded in his ears in a way it hadn't since he was a Commonwealth, fighting against half of the countries in Europe.

One arm struck against the bough and he snatched at it, hooking his fingers around the wood and opening his eyes. The branch had bowed under his weight, but it held soundly. Lithuania let out his breath and pulled up to take hold of it with his other hand, mentally thanking the tree for its' layer of leaves that kept him hidden from view.

Now there was just the problem of _how_ _the hell he would get down._

Again, there was the chance that he would miss and tumble to the ground, showing Russia exactly what was going on and most likely having to endure his wrath if he was 'recaptured'. Lithuania blinked hard and pushed his hair back out of his face.

_You're over thinking this, just do it!_

So Lithuania dropped.

The wind rushed past his ears as he fell, praying to every god he knew that _yes, he would be okay._

It went silent below. Russia had clearly run out of ammunition for his rifle; he dropped it and pulled out two smaller pistols and a belt of bullets for each.

Lithuania collided with the bough _hard_, managing to hook one knee over it and grab it with his left hand. He gasped sharply as the wood splintered underneath it, slicing his palm and causing a wave of warm blood to go rushing down his wrist.

The branch let out a creak as Lithuania steadied himself, wrapping his arms it and heaving himself up. The branch was smaller than it looked but it held, bowing and swaying slightly under his weight but not making another sound as he carefully sat up and looked down.

The gunshots started again, one after the other, causing splinters to fly over the two Nordic nations as Norway continued to dodge and shield the immobile Dane.

Lithuania gripped the tree with his right handas his branch wobbled under the impact, knuckles whitening as he fought to remain upright. The wound in his left palm was pulsing slightly, blood flowing heavily as it tried to push the splinter out.

Lithuania inspected it carefully, wincing as he ran a finger gently over the area. There was no way he would be able to pry the piece of wood out of his hand.

_Brilliant._

...

Norway growled as Russia steadily grew closer and his shots became more accurate. The axe was big and heavy, designed for the larger Dane, and sapping away the Norwegians strength as he continued to deflect shots because he _couldn't let Russia have Denmark. _

There were barely 50 meters between them now; the Russian had finally run out of ammo, causing a slight cease-fire. Norway bit his lip, hoping that Russia would just _stop_ already and let them fight, face to face rather than this pathetic game of Hunter and Hunted.

He turned to check on the Dane; Denmark met his eyes briefly and smiled, nodding momentarily before closing his eyes again.

A sharp _crack _from above made him jump, casting his gaze up into the tree branches. Lithuania had moved, and Norway wanted to scream when he saw what the brunet was sat on.

A long, thin crack lead a quarter of the way down the bough; it was bending slightly with the weight of the nation and swaying ominously.

A moan from Denmark drew his attention back to the ground. Norway turned back around and groaned. Russia had pulled out a pair of pistols and a magazine for each. The fight continued.

...

Lithuania chewed his lip frantically as he scanned the tree for any branch that may provide a foothold.

And of course, there was none.

He cursed under his breath and looked over to see if Prussia had managed to get out yet. The albino appeared to have found a crowbar and was attempting to smash the glass, to no avail.

Something blue caught the corner of his eye. Lithuania looked up, down the road towards the village in the distance.

_There was a car coming._

A big, blue Land Rover was speeding out of the village, and, with a rush of relief, Lithuania realised that it was the same one that the three nations had brought to take away Russia.

_Thank God._

In Russia's truck, he could now see Canada, talking quickly into the phone, motioning to Prussia to keep the noise down. He had presumably called France for backup, and they would provide another distraction to allow Lithuania and the two Nordics to get away.

Lithuania leant forwards to try and spot the Land Rover – it had gone behind a patch of bushes and shrubs – to see how long it took until it reached them, and give Norway a bit of warning.

That was his mistake.

There was a sharp crack as the bough snapped, splintering under where the Lithuanian was sat, sending him lurching forward. He was left clawing at the trunk for one wild moment, his mind screaming and heart pounding, before he fell.

Two lower branches caught at him on the way down, leaving the nation breathless and completely unable to manoeuvre into a position that would be easier to land on without breaking anything. He felt something whip across his back, briefly registering that it had been possibly cut open by a stray twig.

There was a muffled thud as he hit the ground, followed by a gasp from Norway and a harsh shout, from Russia, he realised. Lithuania groaned as his body relaxed into the ground, heaving slightly as he tried to force himself to breathe and _just stay awake_.

A dull ache spread through his shoulder blades and up his neck, black spots danced in front of his eyes, and the world had gone silent apart from a faint ringing. Lithuania twitched his head to the left to try and make himself hear again, panicking that he had gone deaf because there was something _missing..._

It was then that he realised Norway was stood over him, shaking the brunets arm and trying to heave him up, the axe lying at his side. Apparently Lithuania's fall had shocked Russia into stop firing – _that_ was the noise that had stopped.

"_You!"_

Lithuania shrunk back into the ground as Russia cried out, the bitter sound familiar to the brunet. Norway ignored it, continuing to pull the Lithuanian up and standing him with the other nations back to his own. He whisked up the axe and glared at the approaching Russian.

Lithuania closed his eyes and tried to stop the pounding in his head. _Was he concussed? The fall hadn't been _that_ high..._

Norway pointed the axe towards Russia, muttering hurriedly under his breath. A faint green glow grew around the Norwegian, crackling in the air and warming Lithuania. The pain in his back seemed to dull slightly.

Norway was cut off when a rally of shots came at the two of them – he hissed slightly and narrowly managed to deflect the shots.

An elbow prodded Lithuania in the back; he looked over his shoulder at the Norwegian and drew in a breath as he saw the green aura pulse down the axe.

A sudden bang made Lithuania flinch. Norway didn't react, and to Lithuania's surprise, the bullet didn't reach them.

"_I need you to cover me," _Norway said, his voice straining and the glow fading.

"What?"

"Take the fucking weapon and cover me!"

Lithuania stood still, his mind blank until the heavy handle was pushed into his hands, and they spun around. Norway immediately started muttering again.

Russia had stopped moving towards them, his face pulled into a harsh grimace that Lithuania had seen hundreds of times before. What he hadn't expected, however, was the look of betrayal and _pain_ in the other's eyes; he froze for a second, then was jolted into action as several bangs rang out.

It took all of Lithuania's strength to move the axe – after years of not fighting he had become weak, pain shooting down his back like an electric current and the splinter in his hand burning. A muffled groan escaped his lips – Norway must have heard because he muttered, _"one minute, just hang on for one more minute..." _Warmth spread through him again, the pain eased and he was able to deflect Russia's next assault.

"How long have you been planning this!" the Russian yelled, and the anger clearly visible on his face. "How long have you been planning to tear down my Union? We were your _family_! You have betrayed us all!"

Lithuania's breath caught in his chest as the sound washed over him, bile rising in his throat as his former Ruler pointed out all the truths that he had tried so desperately to wash out of his conscience. Another sharp jab to his side brought him back to his senses as Norway hissed, "Just ignore the bastard!"

_Could he?_

With a shaking arm, Lithuania raised the axe and risked another glance into the Russians' eyes. The pain had been washed out by a cold, hard glare that caused the hairs on Lithuania's neck to stand on end as he shielded himself and the two Nordics from the oncoming bullets.

The axe jolted in his grip; he cried out as pressure was put on the bleeding wound and his vision blurred briefly.

_He couldn't go on for much longer..._

A sharp hiss behind him caught the Lithuanians attention; a bullet had slipped through his defence and grazed Norways' side. He muttered an apology, but the blond shook it off, grabbing the other Nation's wrist.

"When I say, turn around so I am facing Russia again – drop the axe and get behind the tree trunk. Understand?"

Lithuania opened his mouth to question the Norwegian, then caught the latter's glare and hurriedly switched his attention to Russia. Bullets whizzed past his head; the accuracy of the tall nation had degraded in his anger, leaving Lithuania to hit only the closer shot with the end of the battle axe.

It vibrated in his hands, the motion almost causing him to black out as the splinter was pushed deeper into his skin – _he couldn't continue now, Norway had to be ready, the pain was too much –_

The firing stopped as Russia inserted a new magazine of bullets into his gun, and Norway cried out, _"Now!"_

They span around; Lithuania throwing the axe to the side and staggering behind the tree trunk, hoping that the small blond was going to succeed in whatever it was he was doing because Lithuania was _not going to be able to help any time soon- _

With a cry, Norway flung his hands forwards. There was a moment of silence.

And then the world exploded.

Ice cold wind hit him like a tonne of bricks, flinging him backwards; he was blind, deaf, clutching desperately to the tree as the sheer _power_ of the element seemed to condense until it was only around the tree, and then it went – but the roaring remained.

Lithuania peered around the tree to see a ball of swirling, vicious air suspended above the Norwegians head; he held it for a moment before crying out and sending it hurtling towards the Russian. Lithuania just caught sight of the _shock _on the tall nations face before it was gone in a rush of grey and white and green.

Norway collapsed next to Denmark, breathing heavily and trying to push himself up again. Lithuania stepped forward to his side, taking in the pallor of the blond and his look of pure exhaustion.

"What was _that_?" Lithuania asked breathily, leaning against the tree trunk as his legs shook.

Norway smirked wryly. "The last resort. This idiot –" he motioned to Denmark, "-was supposed to cover me, but you did a fine job of dropping in at the right time."

The brunet was about to reply when a deranged voice cried out, and a figure ran over to what Lithuania presumed was Russia. It was a female, her long black dress swishing around her legs, billowing like a cloud...

Lithuania swore when he realised who it was.

_He should have noticed that she'd run off somewhere..._

There was another shout and Lithuania briefly registered the sound of a car pulling up in the distance, but that wasn't as important as the fact that Belarus was running towards the three immobile nations.

She was clutching her second favourite knife.

Lithuania pushed himself up unconsciously, stepping forward and ignoring Norways protest. Maybe he could rationalise with her? It wouldn't hurt to try...

He hadn't moved ten meters before Belarus froze, arm poised and the knife hurtling through the air.

He had no time to move. Even if he did, his body wouldn't have had the energy... there was nothing he could do as the blade pierced him; he cried out and looked down. Hot blood was seeping out of his rib cage - just below his heart – the handle of the knife projecting out of his chest, he was on _fire_, the pain was _unbearable..._

He collapsed to the floor, vision foggy, and he saw the figure approaching, bow on her head fluttering innocently... there was a muffled bang in the distance that he barely had time to register...

Belarus fell to the floor.

Black spots danced in front of Lithuania's eyes – he was _tired_, the ache in his back felt like a paper cut in comparison to the wound in his chest, his hand was throbbing-

_Surely this was the end?_

Someone called out his name; he looked up to see someone sprinting over to him, a familiar, blond someone who had had the idea to get him out in the first place...

America dropped to his side, eyes filled with worry and he called out as he saw the blade, the splinter... Lithuania just looked at him, weakly raising his head before the pounding became too much and he fell back down again...

...And the world faded to black.

...

1250 kilometres away, Poland sat alone in a white hospital room when a blonde nurse gently pushed open the formerly closed door.

"Mr Poland? I'm afraid we have some bad news..."


	6. Chapter 5

_**I own nothing but the story line, and apologize for the wait. Reviewers, I haven't had chance to reply to you yet but I swear I will when I get a bit more free time, promise.**_

* * *

"Hey, I think he's waking up,"

"Well if he is, you should shut up. He's bound to have a murderous headache."

"I thought we lost him for a while... _Dieu merci, _heaven knows his economy couldn't survive it if he did,"

"Very sentimental of you, Frog."

"Maybe it's because we're flying over Lithuania? I always feel better when we pass America,"

"Probably. If we can, I suggest landing for a while. We'll have to call ahead to Poland, though; he'll be off his head with worry,"

"If you do that now, _Angleterre_, I will check with Canada to see if we can make a detour, _oui_?"

"Right."

"Shouldn't we call Ukraine to see if she's got Russia and his stalker-"

"Belarus."

"Yeah, her – away? We don't really want them coming after us..."

"I managed to wipe their memories slightly before we left. They won't remember fighting us, but they will know something happened. I couldn't get past the point where Danmark fell out of the tree; my powers failed, and then this idiot called for me."

"See, Iggy, why can't you do that?"

"He's calling Poland, _cher_, he can't hear you,"

"Oh. What did Canadia say?"

"_Canada!"_

"Yes, _Prusse_, we know. We can't stop; we are at the border already, and since _Lituanie_ is still under Soviet control, it will not be safe to land."

"Oh. But we'll be in Poland soon, right?"

"In about half an hour, _oui_."

"Good."

"Wait... Oh _shit_, where's the heart monitor gone?"

"It's hooked up to _Lituanie, cher._"

"Not the monitor, the bloody line! The pulse, the _bleeping_? _Shit_, get Alfred, _now_!"

...

The first thing Lithuania registered was that he was very _warm_. Or at least, his body was. His face was cold, exposed, and from this he took a guess that he was in a bed. A hard, lumpy bed that dug into his lower back – one that he knew from experience was a hospital bed. Thankfully, someone had had the sense to make sure that his aching shoulders were raised slightly on a softer surface.

There was a rather heavy weight settled over his chest, restricting his breathing slightly and rising gently with every breath he took. Presumably these were the bandages over the wound Belarus had given him. It should be healed over now, he thought; he had been knocked out for several hours, at least, giving it enough time to knit together. Ah, the advantages of being a nation...

Unless, of course, he had died... but there was no bitter taste in his mouth that signalled he had done so, he could feel every part of his body; it was just a few senses he had to regain. No, he hadn't died. He had miraculously managed to survive the battle, and he thanked the gods - for they must have been watching over him, today – because he knew very well what happened to a country when their nation dies.

Lithuania lay for a few more minutes, focusing on clearing out the fuzziness that was filling his head and trying to hear what was going on around him. A muffled beeping that matched the beating of his heart came into range, and he inwardly groaned. It began to grow louder to the point that he wanted to break the machine, had he been able to move.

Voices came into his hearing range after a few more minutes; Lithuania strained to hear them, to know who it was. It took a while before he could distinguish America (how he hadn't done so earlier, he had no idea. The American could practically be heard from miles away) talking loudly to someone; Lithuania eventually figured out it was Prussia, and after seeing how clingy Prussia was earlier, he presumed Canada was alongside him.

"...if you had a fucking helicopter, why didn't you just fly in to get him and we wouldn't be in this fucking mess!"

"I'm the only one who knew how to fly it though!"

"Canada flew the thing back here! You did absolutely _nothing_!"

"But I was looking over Lithuania!"

"So was France! And England!"

"_Will you tossers shut the hell up!"_

Ah. So _that_ was how they had managed to get away so quickly. Lithuania sighed inwardly and tuned the still bickering nations out, wishing that the pair would shut up. The familiar arguing had quickly gone from comforting to downright _annoying, _echoing through his head as the two nations complained.

His finger automatically twitched in annoyance, a bad habit he had picked up from Russia himself, then relishing in the fact he had regained some movement. He could feel that something was closed around his hand before a shock of pain shot through it. He had forgotten about the splinter, and apparently it had gone in deeper than he initially thought, else the wound would have fixed itself already.

Using the information that he could move, he turned his head away from the noise, attempting to block it off with the pillow beneath him.

There was a small sniff from somewhere on his left, and Lithuania flinched. It occurred to him that of course they wouldn't just leave him unattended – a nurse was probably watching him and checking over the bandages every now and then.

Deciding that he had been down for long enough (and having the knowledge that these injuries would remain longer if he didn't start moving soon), he cracked open an eyelid, quickly closing it again to block out the blindingly white surroundings. He tried again, this time seeing a fuzzy green shape above him, and opening his other eye. A few more blinks revealed that the shape was a leaf.

He stared in confusion for a while, wondering how on _earth_ a plant had managed to get onto the ceiling, before deciding it wasn't worth thinking about (he had seen far stranger things than this, and had learnt it was simply easier not to question them) and switching his focus to the surroundings.

The room was very... _white_. Being in a hospital, this was unsurprising, but Lithuania was still amazed by how very clean everything looked. He presumed he had just got used to Russia's house – the only colour around was his small sunflower patch and the occasional piece of artwork hanging on a wall.

Looking further down, he could make out another lumpy bed; he blinked several times more, before realising that someone was in that bed, and another person was perched next to it. He guessed it was Denmark and Norway – nobody else would be needing a bed, unless something else had happened... Lithuania closed his eyes then turned his head slowly, ignoring the tingling pain shooting down his spine, then opened them again to see a mass of yellow.

He jerked back in surprise, hissing loudly as his neck spasmed, causing another wave of pain to course through his body. The heart monitor bleeped several times faster before settling down again, and it was then that Lithuania realised that he was now surrounded by people.

"Lithuania?"

Americas' face peered down at his own, and a finger prodded his cheek. "I guess you're awake then, huh?"

Lithuania swallowed, blinking dumbly at America before the latter was pulled back by a scowling England.

"Give the lad some room, you tit,"

America just rolled his eyes in response, and mimed the British nation when he turned away. "Of course he's awake; his eyes wouldn't be open otherwise,"

"He could be in a coma and his soul just _left_ him, I saw that on TV once and the patient-"

"Will you shut up?"

America pouted at the older blond, and the nations behind the pair smirked. Lithuania cleared his throat slightly, drawing the attention away from them, and bit his lip. "Erm, what... what happened?"

Prussia and France exchanged dark looks, and Englands' eyes widened slightly. "Do you not remember?"

"I-I do, but what..." Lithuania trailed off, glancing at the other bed.

"What happened after Belarus hit you, _oui_?" France asked, one eyebrow raised. Lithuania nodded silently, as the other nations glanced at each other again.

"Well..."

"Norway used his magic powers-"

"Wind spirits." Lithuania looked back across to the other bed, where Norway was sat, cross legged at Denmarks' side. "Not 'magic powers', wind spirits. They just allowed me to harness their energy, which is why I needed you to cover for me whilst I negotiated," he nodded to Lithuania, then cast his gaze back to the sleeping blond.

"Negotiate? With what?"

Norway raised a thin eyebrow at Prussia. "Your country," he said icily. Prussia whimpered slightly, and America gave a low whistle.

"That was a bit harsh, dude..."

Norway turned his glare to America, who promptly shut up and cowered behind England.

Canada shook his head at the two now-shaking nations, and continued on. "The wind blew Russia backwards, and he was knocked out,"

"Then we arrived just in time to see Belarus come towards you and fling that knife," France put in. Lithuania inwardly sighed, glad they hadn't noticed him move towards the Belarusian.

"So I heroically ran towards you," America seemed to have recovered from his shock, having come out from behind England, who was scowling more than ever at the younger's antics, "and we got you on a stretcher and I called in the Chinook, which took about 15 minutes, then we came here,"

Lithuania blinked at the American and frowned. "Where did the helicopter come from?"

America chuckled nervously and glanced sideways. "It – erm, it was my backup plan, you know – if all else fails, bring in the 'chopper, that sort of thing, haha..."

"I told him we should have just used it in the first place, but the blithering idiot wouldn't listen, as usual,"

From the grim look on Englands face, Lithuania was sure that the older nation had come to a similar conclusion that America was lying. He made a mental note to ask what _that_ was all about, then looked back up at the ceiling.

Yes, that was definitely a leaf.

"Where are we?"

America smiled and the tension vanished from his face. "Poland. We wanted to stop in Lithuania, but Canada said it was too dangerous so we didn't,"

Lithuania nodded and pointed towards the leaf. "W-Why is there a leaf on my ceiling?"

"It's a small children's hospital just outside Warsaw. It's relatively empty so we had no trouble getting a place in here, and I'm sure Russia will search all major hospitals to find out where you've gone," England explained. Lithuania nodded again, opening his mouth to question where he was going to go, when Prussia cut in.

"Ukraine ran Russia and Belarus back to Moscow, and says you should call her. She had a little breakdown in the car, but my awesome presence calmed her instantly," Prussia smirked happily, ignoring the glares coming from England and Norway. "Spain and Romano vanished somewhere, we haven't got into contact but they're probably sat in some cafe somewhere,"

England hissed something under his breath which sounded suspiciously like _"lucky tossers," _falling silent when America roughly elbowed him in the ribs.

Lithuania furrowed his brow, a dark sense of worry spreading through him. What if Russia got his hands on the two nations... he wasn't close to either of them, there was a high risk of one of them giving the game away...

A gentle hand touched him on the shoulder; Lithuania looked up to see Canada smiling down at him, then noticed the large dish of yellow sunflowers next to his bed. The hairs on the back of his neck prickled, and Canada bit his lip worriedly.

"Are you okay? I mean, other than the, eh, _injuries_ – but, erm, you are okay, mentally? God, that sounds awful, how do I-"

Lithuania nervously fiddled with his hands, switching his gaze to the white bed sheet. "I... I don't know. Maybe? R-Russia does put a lot of strain on us, ahah..." he trailed off weakly, avoiding the Canadians' worried stare.

"I think you'll be okay." Canada tore his gaze from the pale brunet to the bundle of arguing nations around them. "Eventually, I mean. Nobody can be broken forever, eh?"

"Russia... he seems pretty broken, especially now... _Dievas_, what if he turns on Estonia and Latvia? They can't stand up for themselves, what have I done to them? Y-you should have seen his _face_, Canada, I hurt him more... god, this is my fault, _jūs idiotas..."_

Canada just watched him sympathetically, the hand on the Lithuanians shoulder quivering slightly. "You'll be okay, it was Pol- wait, do you know how long this has been planned?"

_Planned_. Lithuania frowned up at the Canadian. "Three weeks. I called America; he said he'd get me out..."

"Oh, er – I'll get this lot away, A-America should be the one to tell you," Canada motioned to the other nations, and straightened up. "I'll see you later, eh?"

Lithuania watched bewilderedly as the Canadian went over to his 'brother', muttering under his breath and motioning at the others. America twisted his mouth before nodding and clapping his hands.

"Alright, you lot! I've gotta have a quick word with Lithuania here, so you need to get out, like, right now!" He was met with blank stares and a sarcastic snort from Norway.

"No."

"Oh. Erm, everyone but Norway, out!" America started to chivvy France out of the door, the latter dragging Prussia who in turn grabbed Canada. The door slammed shut behind them, and America turned around happily.

"So what is the meaning of all this bloody rubbish? You don't _have_ an airbase around here, the nearest is in bloody _France_!"

Lithuania flinched slightly as England immediately strode over to the American with his hands on his hips and the glare on full intensity. America looked confused for a moment, motioning towards the door.

"I thought you had left?"

"You're leaving something out here, I'm not a thickhead like those two prats out there! Explain now, or God help me I'll-"

America cut off the raging Brit, placing a hand over the latter's mouth then moving to take a seat next to the bed. England stood enraged for a second, cursing colourfully, before following and taking a seat opposite the American.

"Well... Canada said you didn't know anything, so..." America trailed off, muttering something under his breath until a roll on bandages hit him on the forehead with a small _clomp_.

"Are you going to get on with it or not?"

America sighed and cast his gaze over to the two Nordic nations. "Hey, Norway, don't tell people this? You know, confidential stuff... is Den still asleep?"

There was a groan and a muffled "_No_,"; Norway flinched from his position on the Danes' bed to sit beside him, peering down at the taller blond.

"Not anymore, but I promise he can keep a secret. I'll distract him, anyway." The Norwegian poked Denmark in the face and began muttering under his breath. America turned back to face Lithuania and rolled his eyes.

"So. Erm, you called me, two weeks ago, was it?"

"Three,"

"Yeah. Well, we may or may not have had a plan to get you out... for the past fifteen years,"

Lithuania dropped his head back onto the pillow and groaned. England looked like he wanted to say something, but a sharp glare from America shut him up effectively.

"You mean... this has been planned out before hand? You were just waiting for my consent?"

There was a weak chuckle as America shook his head. "Not for your 'consent', specifically; we needed to make sure you knew what was happening. We couldn't call you in case Russia answered the phone, so we needed you to call us,"

England frowned. "Who's _we_?"

Opening his eyes again, Lithuania saw the American pale slightly and rub at his eyes tiredly. He felt a moment of pity for the younger nation.

"Me and Poland. He contacted me in 1950, I think, wanting to get you out, but it took ages to come up with a plan, and even longer to figure out how to put it into action,"

They had been trying to get him out for 15 years... Poland had wanted him out for 40... surely that meant the nation didn't hate him? They were in Poland, after all... Russia wouldn't suspect that, would he? He thought they hated each other – hell, Lithuania still didn't know if Poland had forgiven him for joining the Soviets after what they had done to the Pole. He wasn't quite sure if had forgiven the Pole in turn for taking over Vilnius, but if Poland was willing to make amends, so was Lithuania.

He looked up, and met Americas' eyes. The blond was worried, but Lithuania smiled. America let out a faint sigh of relief and grinned back.

"So what was the plan?" England interrupted, and America turned serious again.

"We needed a somewhere for Lithuania to go once we got him out. I was all for you coming back to my place, but Russia knows we're friends and is probably going to pay me a visit when he wakes up," America grimaced and looked at his watch.

"So then we thought about trying to sneak you home or to one of your brothers' places, but since they're still in Soviet control, that can't happen. Then Poland came up with the grand idea of you staying with him, and using everything that happened in the War to throw Russia off the trail,"

"That coldness... was for a reason?"

America nodded glumly. "I know, it was horrible, but what else could we have done? It was the best option of the time, and that Communist is pretty certain you're still at each others' throats,"

Lithuania bit his lip, and the room fell silent, apart from the soft whispers from the other bed.

England coughed lightly, breaking the slightly awkward atmosphere. "What was the rest of it, then? I'm fairly sure that wasn't just it, where did that blasted helicopter come from?"

America gave him a smirk. "Lithuania, you know Russia has those silly little hidden villages he thinks nobody knows about?"

Lithuania nodded, ignoring Englands splutterings' of _You are bloody imbecile, I swear to god..._

"I may or may not have captured one and turned it into a military base,"

Holding back an amused snort, Lithuania asked, "You didn't."

He got a bark of laughter in return. "Hell yes I did. Took a good ten years to find a decent one, even longer to map the place out using spies, erase all data files and steal the coordinates of where it was from Russia..."

"That was you? He was mad for _weeks_; we didn't know what was wrong until he made us search the entire house, basement and all the military offices looking for those maps,"

"We did a good job of it, too, Russia hasn't found it yet, and we got full control in... 1973, I think? Then it was just bring in the choppers and wait for your' call,"

Lithuania bit back a grin of disbelief and shook his head. "T-thank you... I can't – it... it means a lot to me, going through all that trouble..."

America patted him firmly on the shoulder and stood up. "No problem, mate, just happy to help," he checked his watch again. "England, we need to go. You-" he pointed to Lithuania, "-have an appointment with someone, he should be on his way, so we're off. Happy recovery!"

He grabbed England by the arm and began dragging the shorter nation out, briefly pausing to salute the brunet.

England just nodded and smiled slightly, looking over to the other bed again. "Norway, are you coming?"

"No."

"Oh. Okay then, I'll get the nurse to bring you some food..."

"Come _on_, Iggy, we're in a rush! See you later, Lithuania!"

And with that, the two nations left, the door slamming closed behind them.

"Idiots."

"Nor, be nice,"

"No."

Lithuania smiled to himself, closing his eyes and relaxing back against the pillows. The aching in his back and neck was beginning to die down, and he could feel himself slipping into a slumber when the door swung open with a whoosh. Lithuania sat up slightly, rubbing his eyes and was not quite prepared for what he saw.

"Oh my _god_, Liet!"

A small blond person leapt onto the bed, frantically wrapping himself around Lithuania and shaking slightly. Lithuania sat, frozen for a moment before reacting, closing his arms around the other and sighing.

"_Sveiki, Lenkija,"_


	7. Chapter 6

_**Many warnings for this one, mentions of the Holocaust and the Ponary massacre. I researched a lot to do this; hopefully it's accurate and does not offend anyone. If it does, I'm so so sorry and will remove it. Tears were spilled in the making. Angsty. Very angsty. But I couldn't just let it be butterflies and flowers, that would be ridiculously wrong historically.**_

* * *

After ten minutes of simply holding the shaking blond, Lithuania could feel the pain in his back growing, whilst the trembles wracking Polands' body began to lessen. He rolled his shoulders back, sighing when they gave a satisfying crack, then settled down against his pillows again.

From the way the Polish nation was clamped on to his arm, Lithuania took a guess that the former wasn't _too_ angry at him, and if he was, he was doing a very good job of hiding it. Since he hadn't been screamed at yet, Lithuania _hoped_ that Poland would forgive him (he wasn't sure exactly what he had done, but evidently it was important if it made Russia believe they were bitter enemies) rather than go forever holding a silent grudge, such as his one against Sweden. It would be ridiculous, he mused, if his lifelong work partner decided to ignore him for the rest of their existence, especially if he was to be recovering in Polands' house.

With one last sniff, Poland loosened his grip on the Lithuanian, shuffling to the side before rolling off of the bed into the chair that England had previously occupied. A pair of red-rimmed eyes peered up at the brunet, and that was when Lithuania realised that Poland had purple bags under his eyes that stood out as though someone had drawn them on with a marker pen.

There was a moment of silence in which the two nations just _looked_ at each other, eye to eye for the first time in years, before Poland coughed and looked down at his hands.

"I'm sorry,"

Lithuania frowned slightly. "What for?"

There was another moment of silence, this time awkward and only broken by Denmark choking (followed by a sharp smack and an _Ow!_) before Poland replied.

"Everything."

He buried his face in his hands, messy blond hair swaying forward to cover it more. Lithuania sat up, reaching out and gently putting a hand on Polands' arm. The latter shook his head, before Lithuania heard a muffled sob and the shaking started up again. "Feliks..."

"I never meant to _keep_ it for so long, y'know," he mumbled, face still hidden. Lithuania just patted his arm, not quite understanding where this all was going. "V-Vilnius... it was only s-supposed to be for a few days, to prove that I was still s-strong enough to hold my own!"

Lithuania froze at the mention of his capital, closing his eyes and taking a shaky breath. "You held my city for almost 20 years."

At this, Poland shuddered and looked up again, streaks glistening down his cheeks as he glared at Lithuania. "I lost control of my men! Your population was n-_nothing_ compared to mine; it was m-my city anyway!"

Lithuania drew his hand back from Poland. "But... Vilnius is _mine_, you had no right to just walk all over us. You knew I couldn't do anything to fight back,"

"Why didn't you call for h-_help_ then?"

Lithuania pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. "I did; that so called '_League of Nations'_ did nothing whatsoever! They just told us to battle it out, can you not _remember_?"

The room went quiet; Lithuania looked over at the two Nordics to see them both watching intently.

"You massacred my people," Poland whispered.

Lithuania froze. "W-what?"

"1941. Do _you_ not remember?"

A dark sense of dread and guilt shot through Lithuania's heart, memories of a cold, empty cell shooting through his mind..._a broken window, the screams of a thousand people, Germany promising, promising his freedom before enslaving him, gunfire and men collapsing in front of his eyes..._

"Ponary..."

"Ponary. My innocent people, innocent Jews, prisoners of war that had done nothing but fight for their country... you killed them."

Poland glared, eyes filled with fury and sorrow; Lithuania couldn't meet them.

"You have... no idea what he did then,"

"I have no idea? Me? _He locked me up and gassed me, over and over with my people! I was shot, I was starved and forced to watch my people die! To burn their bodies and sort their clothes and hair whilst he watched on and laughed! You have no idea what he did to me so don't make out that _you_ were mistreated!" _Poland screamed, tears streaming down his face as he gripped his hair, shadows of memories flickering across his eyes, filled with _pain_...

"Feliks..."

"Don't '_Feliks'_ me! I could feel _everything_, even if I didn't see it and he _taunted_ me with it, my best friend killing them alongside him!"

"Poland, he had no control of his actions then!" Lithuania chocked, swallowing down the lump that had risen in his throat, "His _General_... Germany himself went in a camp, I was locked down and forced to watch my own men slaughter... nobody could do anything to stop _him_, nation or otherwise. The moment _they_ mentioned they wanted my assistance to invade you, to get back Vilnius, we refused. So they attacked us, verbally, captured me... my leaders, they had no choice but to cooperate," he rubbed away the few tears that had managed to escape, not meeting Poland's eyes and choosing to stare at his own hands instead.

"I had no choice; they would have turned on me and killed us all, they were threatening to bomb Kaunas, Alytus, Vilnius..."

"Like they did to me,"

A hand gently touched Lithuania on the shoulder; he flinched and looked up to see Denmark. The Nordic nation was supported by Norway, a faraway look on his face.

"When they invaded, it was the choice of 'we bomb the crap out of Copenhagen or you join our cause and we leave you alone'. Sometimes you have to look at the bigger picture. If I had fought back, Norway might have escaped invasion, but at what price?"

"They weren't trying to kill you all," Poland muttered.

Denmark sighed. "They could have done, and if they had, I would be half dead. If Lithuania here had resisted and they attacked, let's say, Vilnius - you both would have lost millions more people than you did, and you would be broken completely,"

"Too late for that,"

"Poland," Norway said sharply; the Pole looked up and crumpled under the Norwegians' withering gaze. "The man responsible for this mess is gone. It wasn't _your_ fault, it wasn't _Lithuania's_ fault – we were all forced into things we would never considered before, but it's _in the past_. The only way to move on is to accept that, not forget it - _never_ forget it – but forgive, and ensure it never happens again."

Norways' face softened, and he smiled, much to the surprise of Lithuania. "It'll take time and it will hurt, but remember who your friends are. It's the only way to stay sane in times like these," he nudged Denmark in the ribs, and began to guide the taller back over to his bed. Denmark turned his head, nodding at Lithuania and motioning towards Poland.

Lithuania nodded back. "Poland?"

The Pole raised his head out of his arms again, and frowned at the brunet.

"Do you hate me?"

Surprise shot across the blonds face, and he seemed to mull over the question for a moment. "I... No. I couldn't hate you, I'm sorry for overreacting and yelling but it's been coming for ages and I know it's not your fault but I needed you and you weren't there and people were saying things and I didn't know what to believe and-"

"I know." Lithuania smiled shakily. "I'm sorry too,"

Poland ran a hand across his face, trying valiantly to smile. "Thank you,"

Lithuania just nodded, then pointed to Poland eyes. "Have you slept recently?" Poland frowned and shook his head.

"Well you should. You look terrible, no offence,"

Poland gave a dry chuckle and stood up. "I'll go and find a room somewhere,"

Lithuania smiled slightly and waved as Poland headed towards the door.

* * *

**So... yeah. Not much to say really. **

**For those that don't know;**

**Vilnius; Capital of Lithuania and source of conflict between 1919 and 1938 when the Poles sort of invaded. They were practically the entire population; Lithuanians only made up 1% but still counted it as their capital.  
Kaunas, Alytus; two Lithuanian cities  
Ponary massacre; Hitler wanted to 'get rid of all Poles' essentially, and got Lithuanias help with the promise to give them back Vilnius. Basically they rounded up Poles, Jews and POW and shot them.  
Denmark; they were given the choice of having Copenhagen bombed to the ground or help the Nazis; it was the shortest take-over of a country in the War. Denmark sent all of its' Jews to neutral Sweden to keep them safe, and didn't really participate at all.  
Norway was invaded, it took two months for the Nazis to get complete control and there were huge resistance forces against the Nazis. They didn't suffer too many casualties in comparison to everyone else.**

**Please say if any is wrong and I will mend it~ **

**Thanks to my lovely reviewers, I will thank you personally one day aha. Since were approaching 50 reviews, I might do the traditional 'the 50th gets a oneshot' etc. Yes? No? **


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